Customer Reviews

The Dark-Eyes' War: Book Three of Blood of the Southlands

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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I discovered David Coe's Winds of the Forelands about a year ago when I read it was a very underrated series. After finishing it, I immediately went onto all of his other works. I can honestly say that he is currently at the top of my list of must read fantasy authors.

This is the concluding book to the Blood of the Southlands trilogy. If you have enjoyed the first 2 books, this is a must-have (if not, it may be a little hard to follow). I have been struggling to find any books to keep me interested lately, and I finished this off in a little over one day. My only complaint is that I now have to wait for his next book.....

As I've said in my reviews of the first two books in this trilogy, you should really start with Coe's "Winds of the Forelands" quintet, which is set in a different part of the same world that this book is set in, and which deals with some of the same characters and issues. GREAT exciting books, richly detailed, fleshed-out characters - I just love them. The "Blood of the Southland" books are also highly enjoyable, though they have a somewhat different feel to them because there's less complexity and the action spans a smaller geographic range. But Coe has set these books in a creatively built world with an interesting magic system, and he avoids what I consider to be high fantasy cliches like wise elves and gruff dwarves and so forth by actually writing a story that is NOT a rip-off of Tolkien, like so many other fantasy authors end up doing. Again, as I said in my review of the previous book in this trilogy, I wish some of the plots had been expanded upon, but all in all my spouse and I loved these books and highly recommend them.

The Dark-Eyes' War, the third a final book in "Blood of the Southlands" series, by David Coe was an excellent book wrapping up a very excellent series that was a sequel of sorts to his "Winds of the Forelands" series.

Mr Coe's world building, characterizations, and attention to detail in his stories continue in this third book. I have been reading his titles for years now and he is on the top of my list to recommend for people that have not yet read any of his titles.

I love books that are in a series. This writer seems to get a bit of the political maneuverings and twists to people and their thoughts in his writings. I enjoyed it a lot.

"The Dark-Eyes' War" completes the "Blood of the Southlands" series by bringing the Mettai plague threat to an acceptable yet peculiar conclusion. The straightforward plot follows two main threads, the Eandi and Mettai alliance marching against the Fal'Borna to reclaim lost lands from the original Blood Wars and Grinsa's dilemma with the Fal'Borna a'laq regarding his family restrictions, his companions Besh and Sirj, and his role in the coming war. A small part features Torgan Plye's menacing the Qirsi.

The politics aren't too complicated, notably the moral debates on whether to cast certain magic or Grinsa and Cresenne attempting to convince the Fal'Borna of their loyalty while wishing to journey beyond the sept. The clever battles display innovative uses of the Mettai blood magic opposing the Qirsi magic. It's unfortunate the Lifarsa Mettai blood magic couldn't have been more creatively utilized given the challenges they've historically had with their magic.

Thank you.

The writing of this story was rather good at first, but I believe the conclusion to this series was a bit anticlimactic.

The Southlands are filled with weary people tired of the constant war. Yet everyone anticipates another bloody battle as the dead crone's curse continues to take its toll; ironically this includes the hag who originally issued it. Now opposing mages with conventional forces gather and converge on the plains for what should prove the final battle.

The Eandi army abetted by a cursed Mettai unit prepares for battle with the mages and depleted soldiers of Fal'Borna. At a time when the magical plague is spreading and giving hope to the Eandi, they lose their magical prowess as their spells fail. Although outnumbered, the Fal'Borna forces have maed the plains the final battle.

The third Blood of the Southlands fantasy (see The Sorcerers' Plague and The Horsemen's Gambit) is a great finish to a strong trilogy. The final battle is terrific; one of the best in years with a reasonable but surprising ending. The lead up is as good. Fantasy readers will relish David B. Coe's great saga as The Dark-Eyes' War affirms he is one of the best at world-destruction.

Harriet Klausner